rHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



69 



1. I should p;uess that they froze to 

 death, being iu such a condition that 

 they were unable to economize the 

 heat of the cluster. 2. If I should 

 find a colony of bees frozen, I would 

 know that at least one of the most 

 essential conditions was wrong, 

 namely, ample protection.— C. AV. 

 Dayton. 



In all probability the extreme cold 

 weather came on before the stores 

 could be l)rought down in quantity 

 sufficient for the bees to live on, and 

 as they could not break from their 

 clu.ster, they simply starved because 

 their stores were not within their 

 reach.— J. E. Pond. 



1. Not being able to reach the 

 honey on account of the length of the 

 " cold snap," the bees probably 

 starved. 2. No.— The Editor. 



Co vvcsp^ou deuce. 



Explanatory.— The llgures before the 

 namrs indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Tliose after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near tne center of the State named ; 

 i north of the center; 9 south; O east; 

 ♦O west; and this 6 northeast; "o northwest: 

 O- southeast; and P southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



For tlie American Bee JounmL 



LeEislation for Bee-Keeiiers. 



DR. C. C. jnLLER. 



I have read carefully Mr. Heddon's 

 article on page 77.5 of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for 1886, and would give 17 cents 

 to sit down in a room all alone with 

 him and talk it out. I have also spent 

 some time looking up the articles 

 written on " Priority of Location." In 

 the first three paragraphs of his arti- 

 cle on page 775, 1 am in entire accord 

 with him, excepting the Urst sentence 

 of the second paragraph. There are 

 matters of right that do not come 

 within the province of legislation. 

 He thinks that bee-territory is one 

 of them. Just at this point our views 

 diverge. As I look at it, for the 

 farmer as well as the bee-keeper, it is 

 best that the territory be distinctly 

 marked out, and this by legal enact- 

 ment. I think the time would never 

 have been taken up iu the discussion 

 of priority of location if there had 

 been legislation. That whole discus- 

 sion was based upon the belief that 

 for the most successful prosecution of 

 bee-keeping, control of territory was 

 necessary, and as there was no such 

 thing as legal right in the case, the 

 next best thing was to try to hold it 

 by other means. That very discus- 

 sion showed the need of having tlie 

 matter settled in some way, in the 

 opinion of at least part of the writers. 



The question as to the prior right 

 of the first comer need cut no figure 



in the present case. If we can hold 

 peaceable possession of our territory, 

 I should even be willing to have a 

 fresh deal made, and pay full price 

 for a deed to my territory. If I be- 

 lieved that one person has the same 

 natural and lucnal right as any other, 

 I certainly should want the territory 

 divided up by law. In the generality 

 of cases, I believe in the priority right, 

 but the man who has the fullest con- 

 fidence in his moral right to the ter- 

 ritory he first occupies, needs to feel 

 that he has a legal right. 



Mr. Ileddon thinks that " whoever 

 will present this proposed legislation 

 to an able lawyer, will first receive a 

 smile in return." Quite likely. Prob- 

 ably a large majority of persons, at 

 first thought, will feel like smiling at 

 such a proposition, but after a little 

 thinking the able lawyer might think 

 differently. 



Mr. Heddon asks if I get the " idea 

 of the relation between a condition of 

 bee keeping that will result in the 

 greatest good to the greatest number, 

 and the question of the survival of 

 the fittest." Yes, I think I do. but 

 that is not what we were talking 

 about. I said I did not see " how he 

 reconciles the idea of a natural ex- 

 clusive right of the prior occupant 

 with the 'survival of the fittest.'" 

 Neither could 1, with my idea of what 

 was involved in priority of location. 



But in the article in question, Mr. 

 Heddon says that "priority of loca- 

 tion gives one a natural right, provided 

 he is fitted tohold that location.'" (Italics 

 are mine.) Now, look here, is not 

 that rather a new departure ? Nar- 

 rowed down to few words, does it not 

 mean just this— the' man first on the 

 ground has the right to hold it, pro- 

 vided he can keep everybody else 

 away V Never mind, we will not 

 quarrel over that part of it. but I will 

 try to show what seems to me the 

 need of legislation in either case. If 

 I am not mistaken, Mr. H. advises 

 that in case any one invades my ter- 

 ritory I shall increase my number of 

 colonies, and by thus over-stocking 

 the ground make it so unprofitable 

 that he will abandon the project. He 

 mentions that he has practiced this, 

 and that three or four persons who 

 have already tried, in as many in- 

 stances, to occupy some of his terri- 

 tory, have learned by sad experience 

 the unwisdom of their attempt ; and 

 his words imply the possibility that 

 now and then some person may do the 

 same thing again. Now the sad ex- 

 perience of those three or four per- 

 sons was a bad thing for them, wasn't 

 it V It cost tliem something in dollars 

 and cents, to say nothing of the men- 

 tal damage resulting from the feeling 

 of failure. For their sakes, would it 

 not have been better if he could have 

 saved them their loss by saying, 

 " This territory I hold in fee simple 

 as my own, and you must go else- 

 where if you want to keep bees ?" 



But leaving their loss out of the 

 question, did their experience cost 

 Mr. H. nothing y I wish we had the 

 exact figures in the case, with full 

 details. But without having them, 

 let us make a little estimate, and I 

 will try not to be unfair. Suppose a 



given locality occupied by A, with 100 

 colonies, and any number beyond that 

 will overstock the ground. B starts 

 up on the same ground. The number 

 of colonies kept by him may vary 

 from 1 to 100 or more. It is not likely 

 to be the larger number, but what- 

 ever the number, we will suppose that 



A, being the fittest to survive, in- 

 creases his number, thus oversto.'-kiug 

 the ground so badly that B, with his 

 bad management, gets little or no 

 surplus, anil gives it up as a bad job, 

 with a total loss of his whole invest- 

 ment. Of course the more bees he 

 has, the greater will be his loss. 



Let us see see how it is with A. If 

 100 is his maximum number of colo- 

 nies for greatest profit, and can 

 gather all the nectar within reach, if 

 he increases one colony more he loses 

 just the amount that colony consumes 

 tor its own use— say -50 pounds of 

 honey— and for every additional col- 

 ony that he increases, he will lose 

 the same amount. He will also lose 

 at least the same amount for every 

 colony B keeps. 



I can hardly see any way to figure, 

 that A will not lose nearly as much as 



B, and if B has only a small number, 

 A is likely to have much the heaviest 

 loss. Now is it right that A shall un- 

 dergo this tax now and then, even if 

 he does hold the ground by it V The 

 farmer pays so much, and owns his 

 territory without fear of intrusion; 

 why not the bee-keeper ? 



Anothei thing : Can any one tell 

 how far from an established apiary it 

 would be right for a new man to 

 start V Opinions will probably vary 

 upon this point for years to come,and, 

 in case of clashing, who is to settle it ? 



Again, we have supposed thus far 

 that the field is fully occupied, and 

 that the occupant will have no diffi- 

 culty in overstocking it. This is 

 hardly true in the majority of cases. 

 C has .50 colonies, and depends mainly 

 upon his bees for his bread and but- 

 ter, having nothing ahead. If D starts 

 in with 2o colonies on C's ground, it 

 may be some years before C can 

 " freeze him out," especially if C has 

 the same disaster some of us have had 

 in wintering bees. 



Still again, the intruder may keep a 

 number of colonies for a series of 

 years, even if it is a losing game, 

 hoping the tide may turn, and as he 

 has other business upon which he 

 depends for a living, and as he gives 

 little time to his bees, he can go on 

 continuously from year to year, with 

 5 or 10 colonies, and 5 or 10 such men 

 in a field may spoil it for any man. 

 No one need tell me that a man's self- 

 interest would prevent him from 

 doing this. It is done. I know of 

 cases, and probably others do. On all 

 accounts, then, should not every man 

 have a legal right to his ground V 



Marengo, 5 His. 



t3p- The Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Associ- 

 ation meets lit the Capitol in Ma<il-oD, wis., on 

 Thursday, Ket). :i, 18S7, at 9 a.m. All proirreBsive 

 bee-keeiiers iire earnestly invited to attend, ana 

 supply-dealers are requested to exhibit their best 

 Implements and inventions. The State Ajrncultu- 

 ral convention will be in session at the same time, 

 commencliiB on Feb. 1 andclosingon Feb. 4, which 

 will bean additional Inducement tor many to at- 

 tend. Hotel rates are from *l to*:! per day. Re- 

 turn tickets will very probably be Klven over the 

 principal railroads at reduced rates. 

 ^ F. Wii-cox, See. 



